Buffalo 8 Acquires North American Rights to ‘Disfluencey’ From Exec Producer Jim Cummings (EXCLUSIVE)

Buffalo 8 has acquired all North American rights to coming-of-age drama “Disfluency.” The film will open theatrically on Jan. 10th, 2025, with a digital release to follow on Jan. 24th, 2025.

“Disfluency” has fared well in the festival circuit, earning nine Best Narrative Feature jury awards (most notably at the Austin Film Festival), in addition to Best Actress and Best Screenplay at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

The film was executive produced by “Thunder Road” and “Last Stop in Yuma County” filmmaker Jim Cummings, and stars Libe Barer (“Sneaky Pete”), Ariela Barer (“How to Blow Up a Pipeline”), Chelsea Alden (“13 Reasons Why”) and Dylan Arnold (“Oppenheimer”).

The film follows the journey of Jane (Barer) as she retreats to her hometown after unexpectedly failing her final college class. With the support of her friends, family and a nostalgic summer on the lake, Jane comes to terms with the trauma that derailed her senior year. Travis Tope (“American Vandal”), Kimiko Singer, Ricky Wayne, Diana DeLaCruz, Wayne David Parker and Molly Hagan also star.

Directed and written by Anna Baumgarten, “Disfluency” was developed at the inaugural Short to Feature Lab, co-founded by Cummings and Vanishing Angle’s VP of Sales & Distribution Ben Wiessner. It was the recipient of the Duplass Brothers’ Hometown Heroes “Oh Shit!” Grant and a selection of the 10th U.S. in Progress industry event in Wroclaw, Poland. The film, which marks Baumgarten’s feature directorial debut, was adapted from the 2018 short by the same name directed by Laura Holliday and written and produced by Baumgarten.

The deal was negotiated by Buffalo 8’s head of distribution, Nikki Stier Justice. “‘Disfluency’ delves into the profound impact of trauma with raw honesty, exceptional performances, and captivating cinematography, creating a deeply moving portrayal of a young woman’s journey to reclaim her interrupted life,” she says.

“Disfluency” is produced by Danny Mooney under his New Moon Flicks banner, Baumgarten under her Cedar Swing Productions banner and Elaine Hastings Edell in association with Vanishing Angle and Chicago Media Angels. Executive producers include Barer, Benjamin Wiessner, Jim Cummings, Alex Rudolph, Ted Reilly, Kelly Waller, and Mark Glassgow, with Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor and Nikki Stier Justice coming in to executive produce from Buffalo 8.

“Disfluency is a piece of my heart and–among many things–a love letter to my hometown in Michigan. I’m honored to have worked with such a brilliant cast and crew, and I’m grateful for Nikki and the Buffalo 8 team’s stellar partnership. We’re looking forward to audiences embracing Jane’s heartbreaking and heartwarming story,” said Baumgarten.

Baumgarten has been a core development team member at Pie Town Productions, Mona Scott-Young’s Monami Entertainment and Rob Dyrdek’s Superjacket Productions, developing unscripted content for MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, WeTV, BET, CMT and HGTV. She was also selected for the 2023 Eastern Oregon Filmmaker Residency where she started development for her next feature. Baumgarten is a media partner of SafeBAE, an organization founded by the young survivors in Netflix’s “Audrie & Daisy” that works to provide sexual assault awareness and prevention education to middle and high school students. In addition to working with them as a producer, SafeBAE is the official non-profit partner supporting the release of “Disfluency” across the U.S.

As a survivor, advocate and educational speaker, Baumgarten travels and screens “Disfluency” at colleges to spark discussions about sexual assault prevention and dating violence.